IIT Kharagpur student dies by suicide; second campus death in 10 days

A 22-year-old MTech student, Soham Haldar, was found dead in his hostel room at IIT Kharagpur, marking the campus's second suicide in ten days. While police investigate the tragedy, the incident highlights a concerning trend of student suicides at the institute

Kolkata: Another student allegedly died by suicide at the IIT Kharagpur campus in West Bengal’s West Midnapore district, the second such incident within a span of ten days. The body of the 22-year-old engineering student was recovered from the Madan Mohan Malviya Hall on Tuesday morning.

Prima facie, it appeared to be a case of suicide, said officials. According to the police, the deceased student’s name is Soham Haldar, a resident of the Shalbagan area of ​​Barasat in the North 24 Parganas district. He was pursuing MTech in Electronics and Electrical Communication Engineering at IIT Kharagpur, and lived in Madan Mohan Malviya Hall.

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The security guards were informed when the hall door had not opened since morning. They opened the door and found the hanging body of the MTech student. The security guards immediately informed the police. The police recovered the body and took it to BC Roy Hospital. However, the doctors said that he had already died. The police are initially considering it to be a case of suicide. The body has been sent for post-mortem, and the family of the deceased has been informed.

The IIT Kharagpur authorities are yet to issue an official response to the development. Earlier, on April 18, a student named Jaibir Singh Dodia jumped from the eighth floor of the Atal Bihari Vajpayee Hall of the Kharagpur IIT campus. The 21-year-old student hailed from the Ghuma area of ​​Ahmedabad.

He was a third-year student in the mechanical engineering department. He lived in Nehru Hall on the Kharagpur IIT campus.

A total of seven students of IIT Kharagpur died in 2025, five of them were found hanging. That year, Shoaan Malik died by suicide on January 12, Aniket Walkar on April 21, Mohammad Asif Qamar on May 4, Ritam Mandal on July 18, Chandradeep Pawar on July 22 and Harsh Kumar Pandey on September 20. On December 7, the body of Bhattaram Sharan Kumar was recovered from the Puri railway gate in Kharagpur. He was run over by a train.